Mary "Mimi" Sharp | Penn administrator, 67

Mary Evelyn "Mimi" Sharp, 67, of Tacony, a retired University of Pennsylvania administrator, died of lung cancer Dec. 7 at the nursing facility at Liberty Court in Philadelphia.

A native of Cumberland County, N.J., Ms. Sharp earned a bachelor's degree from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt. She then worked for the U.S. Department of State in Chad and Libya. She later worked in Geneva, Switzerland, for the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency that promotes improved working conditions, and worked for a publishing company in Amsterdam.

In the 1970s, she studied and practiced shiatsu massage in San Francisco and in Palm Springs, where her clients included celebrities Nick Nolte and Suzanne Somers. She also was briefly a personal assistant to movie star Gloria Swanson.

In the 1980s she moved to Philadelphia and worked in various administrative positions at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1996 she joined the staff of the office of the secretary at Penn. The department manages trustees' affairs, directs institutional and ceremonial programs and manages the distribution of diplomas. She retired when she became ill last year.

Ms. Sharp was a devoted Buddhist, her nephew, Charles Moleski said, and was an active member of Soka Gakkai International. The association promotes world peace and individual happiness based on the teachings of the Nichiren School of Mahayana Buddhism. She was devoted to her family, her nephew said, and was an avid animal lover.

She is survived by a sister, Aileen Moleski; brothers Tim and Alan; and seven nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Dec. 29 at the Soka Gakkai International Community Center, 2000 Hamilton St., Philadelphia.